This month will be reviewing a number of releases on the small, but very cool French label, Inferno Records. There have a decent roster of about 20 bands from around the world that they release on vinyl, Cassette and CD. This month I will be reviewing releases by Axecutor (Brazil) Clenched Fist (Brazil), Death Rides a Horse (Denmark), Elvenstorm (France), Lady Beast (USA), Prime Evil (USA), Rampart (Bulgaria), Razorwyre (New Zealand). Please feel free to enjoy all the reviews in this feature.

Featuring one of the coolest album covers I have seen in a long time, Brazil’s Aexcutor just reek of old school Metal. By that I mean you can practically smell the sweat, leather, smoke and beer coming off of this record. The bands name is great, the logo and metal font are classic; this is a power trio that know there roots.

This nine track, 48 minute long debut has all the right moves, and reminds me of many of the mid-80’s underground bands you might find on the smaller Metal labels like Greenworld, New Renaissance, Metal Blade and of course Banzai. The production is decent, having an older analog feel to it. METAL IS INVINCIBLE is a strong debut falling very much in the Venom vein, maybe not quite as raw. The lyrics are fun, self-referential songs about Metal and head-bangers and so on all delivered with a ruff ‘n ready battle tested voice of Danmented. A centerpiece of the album, even though it is the second last song, is the 10+ minute epic ‘The Fires Of Krakatoa’, which is a bit different from the other cuts. Aside from being longer, it is more atmospheric, slower. It starts with some sound effects, an echo-y spoken word intro over some gentle acoustic guitar and some quiet background vocals, certainly more in a Manowar or Virgin Steele type sound. It stands out from the rest. The album finishes with a Manilla Road cover so you can surmise where these guys are coming from.

As an older Metal fan it is hard not to love such an excellent example of the classic Metal sound that is loose, raw and unpretentious. Axecutor is proud of what they are and METAL IS INVINCIBLE makes no bones about it.